[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-rising-in-1979":3,"chapter-rising-in-1979-rising-in-1979-chapter-442":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Rising in 1979",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2261150,4412,"Chapter 442: Zhou Hui-min","rising-in-1979-chapter-442",442,"\u003Cp>Mei Yanfang felt a bit embarrassed, because “First Love” was Zhou Hui-min’s song—and her signature hit—and singing it in front of her felt like brandishing a big knife before Guan Yu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Hui-min, however, didn’t care about any of that; instead, she became curious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Is your current boyfriend your first love?” Ah-min asked, even though she didn’t know whether Mei Yanfang even had a boyfriend right now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“First loves never last,” Mei Yanfang shook her head; seeing Wen Zhaolun had already perked up his ears, she pulled Ah-min aside to tell her about her first love.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What!” Zhou Hui-min was stunned—Ah-mei had actually gotten back together with her first love, and he was a policeman! How could she do that!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But then she thought again—of course, menstruation and first love always seem to sync up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“First love already feels so distant,” said 19-year-old Mei Yanfang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to Ah-mei, she and her boyfriend had been deeply in love, even to the point of discussing marriage—after all, you could marry at sixteen in Hong Kong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What about you? Is your first love the one who wrote you songs?” Mei Yanfang fired back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Hui-min covered her face: “You’ll find out in a moment.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh, isn’t he one of the judges today? Is he going to publicly confess?” Mei Yanfang suddenly didn’t care whether she sang well or not—just watching this drama was worth it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The judges hadn’t appeared yet, but the audience was gradually taking their seats.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lao Wei and Xu Shufen had never been to the Lyric Theatre before; though they’d been in Hong Kong for over half a year, they’d never attended such a flashy, decadent event and had little interest in it—better to just eat something delicious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their tickets were internal ones, positioned quite close to the stage—they could shout and their son would probably hear them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Three young people beside them also had internal TVB tickets: Wu Zhenyu, Liang Chaowei, and Zhou Xingchi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since last year, when Zhou Xingchi had vowed to join TVB’s training class, he’d been working hard toward it; he eventually took the exam, dragging along reluctant Liang Chaowei—but Liang passed while Zhou failed. Wu Zhenyu was Liang’s classmate from the same intake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Luckily, Zhou Xingchi had a neighbor named Qi Meizhen, the host on stage—she was a graduate from the previous class. Hearing Zhou had failed, she told him this year TVB had opened a night class, somewhat like Wei Ming’s correspondence course—less prestigious, but at least it got him into TVB, where he’d landed a few minor roles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, he couldn’t compare to his good buddy Liang Chaowei, who landed a lead role right after entering training—the third male lead in “Hong Kong Rascal,” with Wong Yat-hwa as the first lead and Tang Zhenye as the second. Sigh, how enviable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Zhou Xingchi marveled at how differently people’s fates unfolded, the judges began to appear. This lineup was even stronger: eight judges total. Besides the two women, Sammi Cheng and Yip Lai-yi, there were Wong Jing, Koo Kwok-fai, Teddy Robin, Lai Siu-tin, Wei Ming, and Zhang Guorong—each could award contestants scores from 0 to 10.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Jiefang patted Xu Shufen: “Here they come—my son looks so handsome! Shame Ah-min and Xiao-hong didn’t come.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Xingchi heard this Mandarin and turned to Lao Wei—could this man be Wei Ming’s father?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thinking this, Ah-Xing instantly transformed into a model youth and handed the old man the cola he’d prepared: “Uncle, are you thirsty?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What’s this? I brought my own water,” Lao Wei refused outright—no good deed goes unpunished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liang Chaowei frowned: “You know him?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Xingchi: “No, but I feel this uncle has an extraordinary aura, noble bearing, the look of a benefactor—I couldn’t help but want to get closer.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liang Chaowei gave him a disgusted look: “Xing-zi, you talk so gross.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Jiefang, however, unconsciously straightened his back, smoothed his hair, then handed his thermos to his wife and took Zhou Xingchi’s cola: “Since you’ve got such good taste, I’ll accept this drink.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhou Xingchi grinned but said nothing—because the competition had officially begun.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The host first introduced the eight judges; the camera panned over each one. Wong Jing and Sammi Cheng sat in the center, Wei Ming beside Sammi, and beside him sat Lai Siu-tin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Many audience members reacted with surprise and delight upon hearing Wei Ming’s name—this seemed to be his first appearance on a TVB program. Was he planning to stay in Hong Kong permanently now?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When host Cai Fenghua asked Wei Ming if he’d come to Hong Kong specifically for the New Talent Singing Awards, Wei Ming replied: “I came to Hong Kong mainly to visit family—my parents work here—and I also shot a short film, trying my hand at directing.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Both judges and audience were surprised—directing? He truly meant to build a career in Hong Kong? Everyone knew Hong Kong was the Hollywood of the East.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The question wasn’t pursued further; the host then asked other judges a few questions, including whether Wong Jing, who was participating in all judging sessions, had any favorite contestants.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, but I won’t say—fairness to the others, and even if I favor her, if she messes up today, she still gets a low score.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What kind of performance would you like to see, Mr. Rong?” asked another host, Qi Meizhen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Guorong: “I hope to see some singing and dancing—upbeat, energetic performances.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Singing and dancing” had become his label, even though he was naturally quiet—he had to stick to this image, even after “Melinda,” he’d trained hard in dance and made real progress.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After interacting with the judges, the competition officially began—no pre-interviews or post-interviews for contestants, just direct performances.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Contestants numbered one through thirty performed in order; judges scored them, calculated the average, ranked them, and the top fifteen advanced to the finals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first contestant was a woman, average-looking, with a Southeast Asian appearance, but her voice was good—Wei Ming gave her an 8.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He thought his score was high, but everyone else gave 9s and 10s, making him seem overly strict.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Ming didn’t know that this girl, Wei Qishan, was the cousin of Hong Kong’s famous singer Dolores Koo—their fathers were both Filipino.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dolores Koo had started her career in Japan; though she hadn’t been in the Hong Kong music scene long, her family was a musical dynasty there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her father was called the “Drum King of Hong Kong,” had formed bands, collaborated with many musicians, and Zhang Guorong had even learned drumming from him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wong Jing had praised Dolores Koo: “Among Hong Kong female singers, if you truly judge vocal skill, few can match Dolores Koo.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even backstage, Ah-min was cheering for Wei Qishan—they hadn’t met during the preliminaries, only in the semifinals; Wei Qishan was technically her senior, as they’d both studied vocal technique at Dai Sicong’s home.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Wei Qishan finished, hearing her score, she knew she was safe—in the original timeline, she’d finished as runner-up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the second contestant, other judges seemed stricter—Wei Ming gave a 7, which wasn’t even the lowest score; this contestant was almost certainly out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thirty contestants, five minutes each, totaled 150 minutes—way too long for a program—so beyond singing, there were almost no other segments, and some performances might be cut.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Soon came the tenth contestant—finally someone Wei Ming recognized: Wen Zhaolun.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d later become wildly popular on TVB, catching the wave of mainland China’s Hong Kong TV drama craze; his dramas “A Family’s Duty” and “My Good Friend” caused huge stir on the mainland, and he had hit songs—his peak was around the 1990s, so it made perfect sense for “The Blossom” to invite him as the Hong Kong celebrity for the new store opening in Shanghai.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now he was just a teenage student, somewhat handsome, with a decent singing foundation, having previously entered small contests and won rankings.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Ming ultimately gave him an 8—a decent score.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But seeing the scores of later contestants, Wen Zhaolun grew anxious—his score sat in the middle; since half of the thirty would advance, he was in serious danger!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the one-third mark, the first big moment was contestant number one, Wei Qishan—overall, Wei Ming believed she was the most talented among the first ten.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The program needed careful pacing—no heavy start and weak finish; it had to hold viewers throughout, especially during the prime middle segment, so the next needed a major highlight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Contestant number twelve, she will perform ‘Hard to Find a True Lover.’ Please welcome Zhou Hui-min.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, Wei Ming smiled slightly—just as he’d expected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d already scanned the audience and spotted Lao Wei and Xu Shufen, along with Zhou Xingchi and his group beside them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So where were Ah-min and Xiao-hong?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not here?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Something was wrong—very wrong!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, Wei Ming had suspected this possibility—Ah-min was competing!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who would’ve thought, after all this time, she’d still entered the New Talent Singing Awards—just a few years early, and she’d already passed the first round.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, could she pass him?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Lao Wei and Xu Shufen heard Ah-min’s name, they assumed it was arranged with their son—they were so delighted they nearly stood up to clap.\u003C\u002Fp>",1529,"2026-06-19T16:30:59.356Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","2f2aa3dfa41787d2cf3d55352b0eec0f449b4a4c3277d898cf194a6ffa78feac","rising-in-1979-chapter-443","rising-in-1979-chapter-441",509,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Frising-in-1979-cover.jpg"]